Of Masks And Roses

Playing Again

Author's note: In this chapter scarlet will be playing a song that you can listen along with! It's called Hans Zimmer KUNG FU PANDA 3 OST (Oogway's Legacy feat. Lang Lang). just paste it into the youtube search bar and you can easily find it there, I really recommend that you listen to it during the chapter and I'll let you know when. Thank you! And a huge thank you to everyone who has commented, voted, and followed this story! I love you guys!

XxX

"What happened?"

"Why did he fall?"

"Was it The Phantom?"

"Did you see his face?"

I sighed as I looked out over the abundance of faces before me, all having questions that needed to be answered. As I stood on the stage I looked over at an old couple in the front of the crowd. They had sad faces with eyes that pleaded towards me. They were Simon's parents. The woman was in her 60's, with salt and pepper hair and dark brown eyes, the same eyes that Simon had. But these held despair and sadness, and not the happiness that was always held in Simon's eyes.

The man looked a bit older than the woman, but not by much. He had thinning grey hair and bright green eyes. They held anger and sorrow. By the look on their faces, they wanted to know everything that happened to their son and how he died. I wanted to tell them, but my heart held the truth behind bars.

"What happened?" someone asked, others murmuring their confusions and questions.

"I'll tell you what happened," I started, staring at Simon's parents as I felt tears well up in my eyes, "It was an accident. It wasn't the Phantom, it was just an accident." I took in a shaking breath and then slowly breathed out, "In all the commotion of the stage below, and having to suddenly get everything together and ready in that second, we were rushing to get the stage prepared for Act III. There were a lot of ropes around and in our rush we weren't paying attention to where we were stepping. Simon caught his foot in some ropes and... and he tripped and fell, and we were up so high," I babbled, feeling my throat begin to choke, "It was just an accident." I whispered, trying to keep it together.

"So, it wasn't the Phantom? He wasn't there?" someone asked.

I slowly shook my head, "It wasn't him. He had nothing to do with it." A couple moans and the phrases 'aww man' met my ears, but I ignored them. Taking a quick glance up at Box 5 I could just barely see Erik's shadow staring down at me.

XxX

I sat in a chair in the audience, my chin resting in my hands as I stared out into space. With being interviewed by police, the crew and, well, everyone, I was pretty tired. I just wanted to get this night over with. I didn't want to talk to anyone about anything. I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep forever. But my wish was short lived as I saw something move in my peripheral vision.

I looked up as Simon's parents walked over to me. The feeling of dread rushed through me as I stood up from my seat.

"Mademoiselle," Simon's Father spoke, "We would like to ask you something."

"Y-Yes, Monsieur," I stuttered, "A-anything."

Simon's Mother stepped forward, "We heard that you were a wonderful pianist, and we were wondering if you could play something at the funeral? Simon would love it."

"U-umm," I stuttered, the memories of when I last played flashing through my mind. The hospital, Emily, and how I was in a coma. Play the piano? After what happened before? What if it happened again?

"I'm afraid I'm not very good." I mumbled, looking away and down at my feet.

Simon's mother shook her head, "Don't lie to me, child. Simon praised your musical abilities. He would want you to do this. You will do beautifully. If you agree."